Ten steps to net zero [energy decarbonisation]

THE RACE TO reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 has begun. From China to the US, governments are heeding scientists' warnings that decisions and actions – or lack of both – taken this decade will heavily affect the chances of meeting the internationally agreed Paris Climate Change target. Yet, despite having decades to figure it out, nobody really knows what a clear pathway to net zero looks like; not all the technology is commercially developed and, as governments are all too aware, some policy changes will be politically tricky. Nevertheless, time is of the essence, and after a string of delays, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in November finally presented his government's opening gambit in the decarbonisation race: a £12bn-backed 10-point plan for a 'green industrial revolution'.